Potential of inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry for trace element metabolism studies in man

A new inorganic mass spectrometric technique is described which allows sensitive, rapid and economic determination of trace element concentrations and isotope ratios in aqueous samples. This paper illustrates the potential of the technique in one particular application area, namely the measurement of strontium isotope ratios in human blood and urine following ingestion of an enriched stable strontium isotope. The data from a human volunteer experiment illustrate the viability of the analytical method, with measurement precisions of +/- 0.2% (1 sigma) achieved for the isotope ratio in urine samples, which contained approximately 300 ng 86Sr in the volume required for analysis. Measurement precision is limited by counting statistics.